A Houston driver was stopped by a Bexar County deputy, held for 76 minutes and searched after his work trip was reportedly flagged as suspicious with the use of licence-plate-reading cameras; a jury found the county violated the Fourth Amendment and awarded $76
In March 2022 a Bexar County Sheriff's deputy in Texas stopped a Houston man on Interstate 35 as he drove home from a work trip near the border, saying he had drifted over the fog line. The driver was questioned in the patrol car and refused consent to a search. A police dog was brought in and alerted, the truck was searched, and nothing was found. He was held for 76 minutes. His lawyers at the Institute for Justice say that, with the use of licence-plate-reading cameras, the quick trip to the border and back was flagged as suspicious and that officers then coordinated the stop through a group chat. One of them told the San Antonio Current that an AI-powered camera flagged the plate and that an anonymous law enforcement agent decided the trip looked suspicious. The San Antonio Current names the cameras as Flock's, and Reason describes them as AI-powered licence plate readers that flagged an abnormal driving pattern. On Monday 28 September 2026 (the reports say 'on Monday'; the date is worked out from their publication dates) a jury in federal court in San Antonio found that Bexar County had violated the driver's Fourth Amendment rights and awarded $76, one dollar for each minute. The county's lawyer said it plans post-trial motions and may appeal. The sheriff's office declined to comment on active litigation.
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 05/10/2026